This put up is a part of a collection sponsored by Outdated Republic Surety.
“We’ve focused tight turnaround occasions from submission to approval utilizing Outdated Republic Surety’s (ORS) FastBond course of — the quicker, the higher,” says Todd Taylor, CPCU, AFSB.
As an ORS Bond Supervisor, Taylor has seen the favorable affect of FastBond, which has been accessible for greater than 10 years. “We’ve managed to simplifythe bonding course of for brokers by providing limits as much as $1 million primarily based on credit score solely,” he says. “And since there’s no want for added monetary data and no CPA required, that saves super time and trouble. Inside the Quick Bond program, Outdated Republic Surety will think about non-residential completion bonds as much as $250,000 in bond penalty on credit-based underwriting. Increased limits may be thought of with extra underwriting data.”
What if a shopper does require extra? Taylor explains that they’ll nonetheless use FastBond to safe as much as $2 million single or combination by including present company and private monetary statements to their software — nonetheless no CPA involvement needed.
Taylor notes a current uptick in FastBond exercise as properly. “Now we have a historical past of writing accounts utilizing widespread sense underwriting, and Outdated Republic Surety is happy with our partnership with brokers who write accounts which may be smaller or just have few or very rare bond wants. These are the sorts of accounts which might be an actual plus for thus many brokers. Though they could not qualify for our contract aspect, they characterize an actual mainstay of the development business.”
Holding brokers aggressive
To remain forward of the curve and preserve a management place in these smaller account markets, Outdated Republic Surety requests agent suggestions and displays business situations. “As in different sectors, development prices have risen throughout the board, making the identical danger are available in at a a lot larger worth than it did just some years in the past,” Taylor says. “We’ve continued to regulate our limits as wanted to maintain tempo with these adjustments, which is why we not too long ago elevated limits from $750,000 to $1 million primarily based on credit score. The FastBond software is so simple as earlier than, however larger limits hold our brokers aggressive, and so they can qualify bigger accounts with much less want for underwriting. Better of all, even at these larger limits, the short turnaround remains to be potential, which may be essential for profitable a bid.”
As Taylor notes, contractors typically postpone tackling bond points till the tip of a bid course of, and it’s commonplace for them to attend in an agent’s workplace for bond approvals. “Bid time stress may be intense,” he says. “Our fast turnaround alleviates a few of this stress.”
Whereas many brokers are already comfy with the FastBond software course of, the ORS crew is able to soar in and supply steering for any brokers who’re simply getting began in bonds or who would possibly need assistance with the primary few functions. “We will pace up the training curve and double-check their work till they’re comfy doing an software on their very own,” Taylor says, “However as a result of the shape is so simple and the bond is primarily credit-based or solely requires current monetary statements for larger quantities, most brokers grow to be adept fairly rapidly.” He provides that Outdated Republic Surety may also present a bond-ability or pre-qualification letter if that’s a requirement earlier than any formal bonding. “We’re all the time glad to confirm {that a} subcontractor can qualify for a bond if that’s all they want so as to submit a bid,” he says.
FastBond may also be a useful stepping-stone for brokers who wish to assist their purchasers transition into bigger tasks. “Few purchasers are capable of soar to a normal bond program in a single day, and a few simply don’t wish to make the extra required investments, like CPA involvement,” Taylor says. “With FastBond, the upper limits assist brokers hold extra of their rising accounts till they’re able to graduate to our contract aspect.”
FastBond benefits
Whereas Taylor considers the upper limits, fast turnaround and simple software course of amongst FastBond’s main advantages, he additionally highlights their bond availability in all 50 states and their consideration of all development trades. “It is a resolution that’s ideally suited for shorter length tasks in that candy spot of $1 million to $2 million, however we now have loads of flexibility to debate variations,” he says. “Even when a job is projected to be barely larger, we would like brokers to name us; we’re all the time prepared to debate the underwriting specifics and dig into the small print of a undertaking to achieve an approval. Outdated Republic Surety has all the time primarily based our bond approvals on extra than simply the spreadsheet numbers.”
Taylor provides that the corporate will proceed to judge and modify FastBond as wanted. One current enchancment is the addition of safe DocuSign digital signatures for functions. Different workflow options are in fixed overview.
“Providing a extra streamlined bonding course of for smaller exposures is without doubt one of the greatest methods to develop alternatives for our brokers,” he says. “And Outdated Republic has actually supported our efforts to enhance small account servicing. In any case, extra bonds imply extra development, and simply because a bond could also be thought of small by business requirements or a shopper has an rare want, they’re nonetheless a necessity. We’re right here to make getting them as straightforward as potential for our brokers.”
For extra information from Outdated Republic Surety, please go to https://www.orsurety.com/weblog.
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